Constant communication device



Dec. 26, 1944. P; E. MQCLEVEY CONSTANT COMMUNICATION DEVICE File d March12,1943

my M N v N z 5 ME I W 5 y W E k\ M. a m 69x T w m \N I v m\ MN k MN m \Ma A Mm M \h w 3 mm mm mm .bv MN Patented Dec. 26, 1944 CONSTAN TCOMMUNICATION DEVICE Presley E. McClevey, Chicago, Ill. ApplicationMarch 12," 1943, Serial'No. 478,902

,(Granted under" the act of March 3, 1883, as

4 Claims.

amended April 30, 1928; 370 O. G. 757) The invention described hereinmay be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmentalpurposes, without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates-to means fon providing an electric connection toa coil of wire carried ject matter ofmy invention comprises, a movablevehicle, such as an automobile truck, having a support for a reel whichis mounted soas to be rotatable thereon, a telephone or like cableformed of metal wires coiled on the reel, a sheet of insulationresiliently mounted on the reel-by means of springs having hooks attheir ends which pass through holes in the reel, a ring of metalsupported by the insulation, spring clips forming quickly detachableconnectors by means of which the ends of the wires forming the cable canbe connected to the ring and grounded to the support, a brush bearing onthe ring and carried by the support so that the electricity can be ledofi from the reel while it is rotating, and means for connecting atelephone or similar communications instrument to said brush and to anon-rotating part of the support so that communication may be hadthrough the cable while it is being paid off the reel to the end of thecable which has already been laid.

For a further exposition of my invention and of additional objects of.it, reference is to be had to the annexed drawing and specification atthe end of which th novel features ofmy invention will be specificallypointed out and claimed.

In the drawing,

Figure l is a fragmentary side elevation of my device with parts omittedfor the sake of clarity.

Figure 2 is a cross section on the line AB- CD-E of Figure 1 viewed inthe direction of the arrows.

From among other embodiments of my invention, I have selected the oneshown in the drawing as illustrative. This selected embodiment iscomprised as follows:

A reel of any familiar type adapted to carry a coil or winding of .wireor cable thereon is generally indicated by a flang 1 having corrugatedribs or re-eniorcements 3 thereon. This reel is mounted for rotation ona vehicle, such as an automobile truck, by mean of an axle 5 which issupported by a bearing, generally indicated at I, and omitted fromFigure 1. A coil of wire or cable is woundon the reel but is omittedfrom the drawing for the sake of clarity, only the ends of the coilbeing indicated as {pigtails 9 and II. These pigtails are shown asattached to spring fastening devices 13 and l5,'respectively, of theFahnestock clip type.

Flang I of the reel has a plurality of holes at its rim, of which one isshown at H. Through each hole I! may be passed a hook. 19 on the end ofa coiled spring 2| having another hook 23 at its inner end. Hooks 23 areattached by any convenient means such as screws 25, toa sheet ofinsulation 21. Springs 2'! thus provide means for resiliently mountingsheet 21 and the parts carried thereby for rotation with the reel aboutaxle 5. Sheet 21 carries a ring 29 of conducting material. Ring 29 haselectric contact with spring clip l3, while clip I 5 has electriccontact with one hook 23 and thus grounds through coil 2| and hook [9 toflange I.

As can best be seen in Figure 2, bearing 1 has, a bolt 3| forming a partthereof and serving to attach a U-shaped bracket 33' from which extendears 35 through which passes a pipe 31 having a perforated cap 39 at oneend. Pipe 31 is insulated from the frame of which bearing 1 forms apart, in any convenient Way. Through cap 39 projects one end of bolt 4|to the opposite end of which is attached, in any convenient way, carbonbrush 43 bearing upon metal ring 29. Between its ends, bolt 4! hasscrew-threaded engagement with washer 45. A spring 41 is located betweencap 39 and washer 45 and stresses brush 43 into contact with ring 29.Lock nuts 49 on bolt 4| limit the movement of bolt 4! and brush 43towards engaged position and also serve as means for attaching one endof a wire (indicated as pigtail 5|) leading to a communicationsequipment such as a telephone. Another wire connected to this equipmentis grounded to bearing 1 by means of bolt 3| and is designated byreference character 53 applied to that end which is shown in thedrawing.

The operation of my device is believed to be easily understood. One endof the cable mounted on the reel is paid off from the rotating reel tothe ground or other relatively stationary location. On the vehicle whichcarries the reel, elecon and rotating with the reel. Another part ofthis end of the cable is shown as pigtail II attached to clip l5, whenceconnection is had through hook 23, coil 2|, hook l9, and hole IT on saidsupport, a coil of wire constituting a communications cable coiled onsaid reel; a plurality of springs each having one end shaped forconvenient engagement with and disengagement from said reel, aninsulating base plate hung from the free ends of said springs insubstantiallyeoncentric relation-withthemotational axis "at said.reelza-zconductingiplatez mounted on said base plate, and springterminal clips, one con- .nected to said conducting plate and oneconnected to one of said springs to receive the ends I tofxsaidcoiloiwwire in said clips.

1. A device providing for communication through a wire cable whilezitistb'eing la-idiromlareel, said devicecomprising, a plurality'oftspringsi each having a hook at one end thereof, said hooks being adaptedto besecured to.the.reel a-sheet of insulation mounted on the ohpositeends ofsaid tsprin'gsfrom said hooks in substantially concen- Itric relationwith'therotational axis at thereel a ring of conducting "materialmounted onsaid sheet, a. brush of conducting material positioned "so asto'bear on "and reciprocate :with a' limited motion relative to saidring, and terminalsjproiviiiing'forready attachmentfanddetachment of"thewiresof"said pab1et0"said"ring and to one :or said'springsrespectively.

'Mobile'means'pro'viding -'a substantially "con- -"tinuous"channelfor-communications comprising, a"movable' support,"af"reel im rinted forrotation .3.-In a device for providing an electric connec- 'tiontoa'coil of wire carried by a rotating reel, a 1'5"brushvipositionedradjacent and stationary relative to the rotation ofsaid reel, an insulated metal 'plate positioned for rotation with saidreel and against whichsaidhrush constantly abuts inelectitricalrcontacaland'a spring means providing a plate.

quickly detachable resilient mounting for said 4. rln'ra '1 deviceifOrflJtOVifding :an "electric "con- :nectionzto a:coil:of:wir.ecarniembyial'rotatingrreel,

a brush positioned adiacentandsstationaryrelativeto ftherotationmfrsai'd1reel,":a;'*metal'r.plate positioned/"forrotationwvithzsaidireelzand against which said brush abuts, a ShBBtZOfinsulation separating;saidrplatexfrom'ther-reeleand providing a supportfor said (plate 5 and a iplurality sof coil springseach-xconnectedmtione.end to said insulation. andi'having ra hook at-its oppositeendiadaptedfor connection with said reel.

